Strength Based Approach

1623 Words7 Pages
In the growing world of distractions, it is difficult to engage and empower children to go to school let alone go willingly. When working with uninterested children strategies can be used to involve children in their schoolwork and assist them in succeeding such as giving them the power of choice, ensuring each child feels accepted and linking academics with real life. Giving a student choices as to what they are learning and how they will retain the information allows a child to feel in control of their life as well as giving them a sense of purpose and competence. Learning that incorporates choices for the child to make by themselves allows them to invest themselves in quality work that they are interested in. Feeling accepted is important…show more content…
This approach focuses on what the child is good at rather than pointing out what is problematic. Children that do not like school often have learning disabilities and without focusing on their strengths, children may develop feelings of defeat and hopelessness. Not using a strength based approach in schools can often times lead to labelling of children, which not only limits their options but also makes them feel bad about themselves. A longitudinal study was done in Kauai, Hawaii looking at all the children born on the island in 1955, following them from birth to age 32. Approximately 30% of the children were classified as at-risk due to poverty and dysfunctional families. At the end of the study 1/3 of those at-risk children did not develop behavioral or psychological issues and they all could name at least one teacher they had in their life that supported them. (Werner, 1993) The results of this study prove that not only does supporting a child’s strengths keep them engaged at school, it also helps them build resilience and lowers the chance of them developing issues in the…show more content…
Children always ask teachers when they will ever use the information being taught, and while it is uncommon to use differential equations once out of high school, much of what students are being taught do carry over into the real world. Children need to understand the role of school which is to prepare them for life as an adult with a job and a family. To do that not only do they need a basic understanding of the world and how it works, but they also need the social skills taught at school. By centering school on real life experiences, learning becomes more relevant to the child, therefore becoming more interesting and motivating the child to enjoy school. Learning the things that interest the child that they may use later in life inspires them to “work harder, dream bigger and learn more.” (Linked Learning, 2015) A program called Linked Learning in California strives to link academics to life, in hopes that children will become more involved in school. The program offers specialized classes so that high school students can prepare for the career that they are most interested in. They have found that the students in their program earn more credits in the first three years of high school compared to the rest of California students. (Linked Learning, 2015) Relating school work and the future does not have to involve mentoring and internships, it can be brought into any
Open Document